At least four people were killed when an Israeli strike hit an apartment in the Ramada hotel building in central Beirut early Sunday, and Israel said it targeted Iranian commanders operating in the Lebanese capital.
The attack marked the first Israeli attack to hit the heart of Beirut since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah resumed last week.
Ten people were also wounded in the attack in the Raouche area of Beirut, the Lebanese Health Ministry said in a statement.
Israel said it targeted key commanders of Iran’s elite Quds Force, but did not name them.
“Commanders of the Lebanon Quds Force operated to promote terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and its civilians, while simultaneously operating for the IRGC in Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
The hotel was housing displaced people fleeing war in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs, and some were seen leaving the building for fear of further airstrikes.
Last week, Israel said it had killed the commander of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon, Daoud Ali Zadeh, in an attack in Tehran.
Lebanon was drawn into the escalating war between the United States and Israel against Iran on Monday after the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah fired rockets and drones into Israel. Israel responded with heavy attacks in southern and eastern Lebanon and near Beirut.
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The area along the Mediterranean coast is home to dozens of hotels, now overcrowded by displaced people who fled their homes elsewhere in Lebanon due to ongoing fighting.
This is the second Israeli attack on a hotel in the Beirut area this week.
On Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike hit a hotel in the predominantly Christian neighborhood of Hazmieh on the outskirts of Beirut, near the presidential palace and several government ministries and diplomatic missions.
AFPTV live footage from Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday also showed smoke following what appeared to be an airstrike.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah claimed early Sunday rocket attacks against Israeli forces and a city across the border, “in response to the criminal Israeli aggression that affected dozens of Lebanese cities and towns,” according to statements from the group.
Hezbollah also said its fighters were involved in clashes with Israeli forces near the border town of Aitaroun.
Air raid sirens sounded in several areas of northern Israel, with no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS and AFP)
